What do Major League Baseball managers really do? Sure, they handle pitching changes and the lineup card (sometimes), but their main job is massaging the giant egos that float through the clubhouse. When a manager can’t do that, it’s time to go. Terry Francona was in that exact position throughout September, which is why he isn’t going to be Boston’s skipper in 2012. Francona never made an inspired pitching change or called for a brilliant defensive shift. What he did do well, though, was listen to his superiors.
